Chapter Text
It was almost nine by the time Arthur arrived home. Worn out, he sat himself on the sofa in the living room, not bothering to tidy up his shoes and change his clothes to a more comfortable one. The meeting before felt like the longest meeting he had ever had in his lifetime. Seriously, how could discussing about a few things take more than three hours? And honestly, it didn't feel like a discussion at all.
It was more like a debate, actually. Hectic and noisy. Arthur's head hurt only by remembering a small part of the meeting today. It didn't help that Ludwig and Francis were always yelling throughout the meeting. The meeting was a mess, but the problems didn't end there. His proposal got rejected and his boss was angry because his work didn't satisfy him.
His hand moved up to work on his tie, loosening it. Arthur sighed as he laid comfortably on his sofa. Good thing he lived alone in a small apartment because it was quiet and peaceful—something he really needed right now after a long day full of hard work.
Five minutes relaxing, Arthur then thirsted for a cup of tea. He stood up and walked towards his kitchen to make himself a nice cup of warm tea.
The kitchen was dark and silent. Arthur marched quietly towards the cupboard and took out a beautiful porcelain cup decorated with flowers—his favourite tea cup. Having skilled hands, Arthur boiled water and brewed tea in a fast pace. Soon, a cup of tea was ready, in which he sipped it right after he was done.
A content sigh escaped his pale lips, dissolving right to the thin air. His green eyes shone brightly in happiness and Arthur felt calm and content, if only—
RING! RING!
—if only his mobile didn't ring too loudly for his liking right now.
And what was it with the ringtone?! He didn’t remember changing the ringtone to something as ridiculous as this one!
Annoyed, he took out his mobile from his trousers pocket and the word 'Alfred F. Jones' popped on the screen. Arthur pressed the green button and gritted his teeth while bringing the mobile closer to his ear.
"Yo, Artie! How was the—"
"Alfred F. Jones, how dare you change my ringtone without my permission!" He cut the American's words in annoyance, and following after it was Alfred's infamous boisterous laugh.
"Really late in realizing it, aren't you, Artie?" Alfred spoke again, his tone happy and cheerful. But it didn't sound like music to Arthur's ears. It sounded more like hell, actually. "Did you just arrive home?" His tone changed to a softer one and unconsciously, Arthur's lips turned upwards, forming a gentle smile. Alfred's caring side had never failed to seep through him and melt him completely.
The Englishman nodded in response, forgetting that Alfred couldn't see him nod. He brought his tea out towards the living room and sat down on the sofa, trying to make himself comfortable. "Around ten minutes ago, I think."
"How's the meeting going?"
"Awful." Arthur immediately replied and sipped his tea. His headache came back and he grunted in a low voice, earning a surprised gasp from the American across the pond. "I've got headache and it's just getting worser and worser. And the fact that today is a little bit chilly doesn't help at all."
Alfred chuckled again and it rang clearly through Arthur's head. Beautiful, the Englishman thought and his smile got wider than before. His pale cheeks gradually turned a little bit rosy and his chest felt warmer. The feeling was lovely and Arthur couldn't deny that he liked it.
"If only I were there, darling," Alfred started, "I'd surely hug you tight and kiss you 'til I'm tired. Because I miss you so much."
Arthur blushed and stared at the ceiling, feeling slightly embarrassed—even though the American wasn't here with him. "Shut it, Alfred. It's embarrassing," He complained, though deep down, both of them knew Arthur liked it. Soon, silence engulfed between them and Arthur could hear Alfred's steady breathing through the phone.
"...You are lonely, aren't you?"
That one question from Alfred managed to shut Arthur completely. The Englishman averted his gaze from the ceiling and it fell on his hand, which he clenched tightly. Arthur couldn't deny that yes, he liked solemnity and he loved being alone surrounded by peacefulness.
But he also couldn't deny that he missed Alfred more than he could describe.
Everything bubbled up inside of him and Arthur almost felt like crying. For a moment, it was silent—in the room and over the phone. Neither of them dared to talk, with Arthur trying to recollect his composure and Alfred understanding what his lover was doing right now.
"I'm not," Arthur answered. He was a very stubborn man indeed, and Alfred knew that very well. The American chuckled over the phone and Arthur blinked quickly, trying to stop the tears from falling down.
"Stop hiding your own feelings, Artie," Alfred spoke in an disagreeing tone and Arthur bit his lips hard it bled, and he managed to choke back a sob.
"Or else, your heart will bleed and hurt so much you can't feel anything anymore."
And Arthur's defense crumbled. Tears began rolling down his cheeks freely and naturally. The Englishman cried in silence and he could hear Alfred smiling and sighing through the mobile. Apparently, Alfred was right. Everything hurt so much and Arthur just couldn't stop crying.
"You did well, Artie—you did a really great job." Arthur could hear Alfred trying to comfort him and smiled slightly, thankful for his effort. "You survived the week. I'm proud of you."
"Stop it." Arthur managed to say between the sobs and Alfred's laugh followed after. He was really grateful he had a really amazing and caring boyfriend, even though he could be really annoying and childish sometimes. "My name's Arthur."
"Whatever." Arthur knew that right now, Alfred must've been rolling his eyes. Chuckling softly, he lifted up his legs and hugged his knees in an attempt to ease his feeling of loneliness. "And so! Because I can't be there to accompany you, I tried to find you my replacement. And I did."
"You what?" Arthur's eyes grew slightly wider and he frowned afterwards. Weird. What replacement? Seriously, Alfred wasn't pulling a joke on him, was he?
"I found you a replacement!" There was something fishy behind Alfred's tone, but Arthur couldn't figure out what that was. "Where are you right now, Artie?"
"Living room. Sitting on the sofa."
Alfred hummed and the Englishman could hear him nodding his head faintly. "Living room, eh. Now stand up and go to your bedroom. And don't turn the lamp on before I say so."
"Bedroom?" Arthur responded curiously, but he did what Alfred asked him to. He stood up and walked towards his bedroom silently, stopping right in front of a wooden door with carving of roses. An eyebrow was raised and a slight feeling of suspicion rose up, Arthur's eyes narrowing slightly. "What are you planning, Alfred?"
A noisy sound of something Arthur didn't know filled his ear, following right after that was Alfred's loud voice. "Nothing! Just go inside and see for y'self." Arthur could hear Alfred smirking as he put his hand on the doorknob. "Go on, open it. Trust me, you'll like it."
Arthur took a deep breath and opened the door slowly. Inside, the room was dark and Arthur could see nothing. He entered the room cautiously, afraid of what Alfred had planned for him.
Only the sounds of breathing were exchanged between them—Arthur's was anxious and Alfred's was excited.
Slowly but surely, Arthur explored his room, stretching his hand out to feel things in the dark. The lamp was located near his bed, so he walked towards his bed in a constant pace with a heart that was beating too fast in anxiety.
"...Alfred?" Arthur called softly, taking a deep breath. "You're still there?"
"I'm here, Artie."
"Are you sure you didn't do something funny?"
"Not at all. Don't you trust me?" Arthur nodded immediately upon hearing the question, but then realizing that Alfred couldn't see him nodding, he answered with a soft voice. "I do."
"Good. Now, turn on the lamp in your bedroom and you'll understand what I mean."
Arthur quickly found the bed and sat on it first, reaching towards the nightstand to turn on the lamp. Accidentally, his fingers touched something fluffy and furry, and Arthur gasped slightly.
"What's wrong, Artie?"
"There's something full of fur sitting on my bed—" Before Arthur could finish his words, Alfred's laughed filled the air, leaving the Englishman confused.
What was so funny? Arthur didn't understand.
"Turn the lamp on, Artie. No need to freak out like that." Alfred instructed and Arthur proceeded to turn the lamp on quickly. In a sudden, the lamp was on and the room was so bright Arthur had to blink a few times to adjust with the sudden light coming through his eyes.
When he had adjusted to the bright light, he turned towards the bed and couldn't believe what he was seeing.
Before his eyes was a giant, fluffy, brown teddy bear which was surrounded by four other small, white teddy bears. All of them were smiling at him and had a heart plush on their hands with a word on it. Arranged together, they spelt 'I ♥︎ YOU' and Arthur blinked rapidly, his hands covering his mouth—he didn't really know whether to smile or to cry.
"Oh, God—A-Alfred—" Arthur's words hung in the air and he sniffled slightly. Alfred did this for him? That silly idiot, Arthur thought, as he moved forward and gave the brown teddy bear a big hug. Well, Alfred did say that they were a replacement of him, didn't he?
"Do you like it?" Alfred's voice sounded curious and hopeful, Arthur couldn't help but to smile at that.
"Very much." Arthur breathed on the bear's fur and he could smell Alfred's scent on it. His chest gradually felt warmer and tears started to roll down his cheeks again—but this time, they were happy tears. "Thank you, Alfred."
"I saw them in the mall a few days ago and I thought, I couldn't not buy you those cute lil' guys. And I remembered that you like bears a lot, so there's even no more reason not to buy you those." Alfred blabbered on the phone and Arthur immediately thought, 'typical Alfred'. "Then?"
"Well, because I couldn't come to England to put them myself, so I sent them via airmail and hired Francis to do it in my stead. Because he has your spare keys, right?"
Why must Francis, out of all people? Arthur thought, but Alfred's reason actually made sense. "Yes."
"Right. So I asked him to sneak out of the meeting to put them in your room."
So that was the reason why he ran away from the meeting this afternoon after the break. Arthur was extremely angry when he found out Francis was gone during the break until the end of the meeting. But, after finding out the reason why, his anger was gone, just like that. He made a mental note to call Francis later and apologise to him. That was the least he could do after what Alfred had made him to do.
"You idiot," Arthur muttered on the phone and laid down on the bed, the bears pressed tightly against his body. He hugged them and imagined Alfred in their stead, and his smile got wider than before. "You don't have to do this, you know."
"I can't just sit down and do nothing when I know you're feeling alone and you miss me a lot." He could imagine Alfred grinning after he said that and Arthur just shook his head in disbelief. "I really want to be there with you, but I have piles of papers to finish. Have to do them first before I can go to see you."
Arthur's fingers stroked the bear's soft fur slowly while imagining his fingers, in between Alfred's golden locks. "Thank you," He whispered, his green irises shone brightly in gratefulness. "I miss you too."
Both of them were smiling and it felt extremely right and perfect, if only—
BEEP! BEEP!
—if only Arthur's alarm didn't ring so loudly right now.
"Bloody hell!" The Englishman groaned and turned it off, before mumbling again on the phone. "Sorry for that. It was my alarm." Arthur sighed while pinching the bridge of his nose—his headache came back again. "My head hurts."
"You have to rest." Alfred said, and Arthur yawned. "Go to sleep, then."
"What about you?"
"Me?" Alfred repeated and Arthur nodded. "I still have papers to work on." Alfred laughed again for the umpteenth time and it still sounded like music to Arthur's ears. Beautiful and just pure. How could something so perfect exist in this world? And moreover, he had him all for himself. "Don't worry about me. Worry about yourself first."
"Alright." Arthur got up and changed his clothes fast to a more comfortable night wear, before tucking himself to bed. "Don't sleep too late, love."
"Mhm. G'night, Artie, I love you! Sleep well and dream of me!"
"Right. I love you too, Alfred." Arthur chuckled and the last thing he heard from Alfred before he ended the call was the familiar boisterous laugh.
Arthur put his mobile on the nightstand and covered his body with his blanket, before pulling the bear to a tight hug again. The Englishman stared at the bear's eyes, which, coincidentally, had the same colour as Alfred's eyes.
The bluest eyes he had ever seen.
Arthur smiled before giving the bear a soft kiss on the lips. He turned off the lamp, closed his eyes and fell asleep easily with a smile on his face.